I hope this hasn’t been covered here before – I’ve done searches to no avail – but my old college Poli Sci professor told us once that there are currently boys (from the line of Aaron) being trained(?) to serve as the high priest of the new Temple, if and when it is ever built.
My questions are these:
1- is this true?
2- besides being a male Levite, what are the qualifications for becoming a high priest?
3- what sort of training/preparations are needed to make a high priest? what age were the younguns plucked from their mother’s teat to begin preparation?
4 - who was the last high priest before the last temple was destroyed?
It has been covered before. Zev and others will likely provide details, but basically it’s not possible, since, IIRC, no one now living is “qualified” to enter the holy of holies. The only way this will happen now is with a little Help From Above.
Don’t know. I know that there is a place in Jerusalem making vessels to be used in the next Temple, but I don’t know if there is a “training center” for kohanim. In any event, the study of sacrifical law and temple service is something that is common in yeshivos today, where all students (not just kohanim) study them.
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Any kohen is eligible to become the kohen gadol (high priest). A kohen must be a straight male-line descendant from Aaron. While there are (to my knowledge) no formal requirements for a kohen to become the kohen gadol, there are some precedents. Usually, the son of the previous kohen gadol became the next one. Secondly, the kohen gadol was usually someone who was wiser, more respected, a greater Torah-scholar than other kohanim.
As a side note, it should be pointed out that there were times when there was more than one kohen gadol. There were a number of circumstances that could result in multiple kohanim gedolim.
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As mentioned above, all Jewish students recieve a thourough education in Jewish law, including the laws of temple service, consecrated items, etc. Young kohanim (I’m not sure from what age, but definitely not before bar mitzvah(13)) would be trained in the Temple service. They weren’t "plucked from their mother’s teat"s. And, in addition, anyone who was a kohen had relatives who were kohanim as well (since his father, paternal uncles and paternal brothers were all kohanim too.
Well, you can’t just be a male Levite. You have to be a male Kohen (priest). You also have to be in good health, not blind, deaf, or crippled.
As for who the last High Priest was, the last person Josephus mentions as High Priest is someone named Joseph, the son of Cantos, but I don’t know if he’s the last High Priest, or if he’s just the last High Priest mentioned by Josephus.
Never mind my ramblings–looking back through old threads, I think I was confusing this topic with the related topic of rebuilding the temple/sacrifice of the red heifer/and the fact that no one now living is ritually clean (except Elijah).
I think, traditionally, you’re voted in by the rest of the Kohanim. Most of the time, though, the new high priest was either a relative of the old one (son, nephew, son-in-law), or a political appointee (like some of the horrid high priests just before the Maccabean rebellion…Jason and Menelaus come to mind.)
Shortly before the destruction of the Temple by the Romans the zealots chose by lot a mere rustic named Phannias as the last high-priest: thus the high-priesthood, the city and the Temple passed away together ( Josephus, “Bell. Jud.”, IV, iii, 8 ).
Forgive the goy question, but if I or Zev or Cecil or whomever somehow became High Priest, what exactly would this let us do? Would the HP then be like a pope, or a theocratic monarch, or what?
Assuming the temple existed, and you were the high priest, there would be certain sacrifices only you could perform, you’d be in charge of and perform a pretty elaborate ritual on Yom Kippur, you’d be president of the Sanhedrin (I believe), and also in charge of the temple’s treasury. Also, in addition to not being able to marry a divorcee (which no priest can do), you also wouldn’t be allowed to marry a widow. You also get a pretty cool set of clothing.
Most Jews living today (as with most Jews living in the Temple days) are ineligible to be the kohein gadol (High Priest) simply becuase they are not a kohein. However, any adult kohen is eligible to become a kohein gadol. However, since the Temple does not exist at the present time, there is no need for the office.
Not quite. As Captain Amazing pointed out, the kohein gadol’s duties pretty much centered around the temple service. There was, in the days that the Temple stood, a king, who was not a kohein. In fact, the king (not being a kohein was ineligible to be a kohein gadol. Likewise, a KG was ineligible to be king (not being descended from David). The monarchy and the high priesthood were separate entities with different spheres of influence.
(BTW, if you’re not Jewish, you’re not eligible. I’m not eligible [I’m not a *kohein*] and I doubt Cecil is eligible for the same reasons.)
I knew they were Levite, but weren’t they also Kohanim? I thought there was a Maccabee high priest or two. I thought that was the big political reason (putting aside their religious beliefs) the Sadducees formed. They were opponents of the Hasmonean high priesthood and supported the older family.
Your misconception may be coming from a misunderstanding of the Jewish priesthood.
In Judaism, the priesthood is hereditary. A kohein (priest) is someone who is descended from Aaron. Such a person was eligible to perform the service in the Temple. In addition, certain tithes were given to him by the people and certain restrictions were placed on him as well.
Any adult kohein was eligible to become the kohein gadol. Usually the kohanim appointed the kohein gadol. In most cases, the son of the previous one took office, but there is no requirement to follow this (i.e., if the son was not worthy). In addition, the king could appoint a kohein gadol. Sometimes, there were multiple kohanim gedolim at the same time. A kohein gadol was different from a standard kohein in a few ways: only he could perform the service on Yom Kippur, he could not marry a widow, when he performed the service, he had to wear the eight garments of the kohein gadol (as opposed to the four of a standard kohein). His sphere of influence was pretty much strictly confined to the Temple service.
The kohein gadol was not (like the Catholic pope) the head of the religion. That position belonged to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the body that would legislate religious laws as necessary and were the final arbiters in matters of halacha (Jewish law).
Yes, the Maccabes were kohanim. And Jewish literature roundly criticizes them for taking the throne and not being content with the kehunah (priesthood).
I don’t know if the Hasmonean kings/priests contributed to the founding of the Saudecces, but some of the later Hasmonean Kings (such as Alexander Jannai) were Sauducee supporters themselves.
